Lesson 1 - Intro, Research Questions and Validity

Question 1

Why qualitative methods?

Answer 1

Provide complex and thick descriptions of people’s
experiences
* What people think, imagine, remember and do in the world
* Research about participants’ experiences
* Effective in identifying previously unexplored social
issues
* Better understand complex phenomena and the
implications of quantitative data

Question 2

Applications for qualitative methods?

Answer 2

• Health (psychotherapy, chronic desease management, doctor-patient communication)
• Business (storytelling and corporate identity)
• Gender studies (feminism, sexuality, LGBTQI/queer studies)
• Consumer behavior (decision-making)
• Cognitive ergomonics (development of new products, services and spaces)
• Political psychology (attitudes, ideologies, voting preferences)
• Migration studies (segregation, assimilation, xenophobia)
• Education (students’ well-being, bullying, discrimination)
• Etc.

Question 3

Basic principles

Answer 3

• Respect for participants and informed consent
• Specific permission for audio or video recording
• Voluntary participation and no coercion
• Participant right to withdraw
• Full disclosure of funding sources and conflict of interest
• No harm to participants and no use of deception
• The presumption and preservation of anonymity
• Participant right to check and modify a transcript
• Confidentiality of personal matters
• Data protection

Question 4

Why do we need qualitative research questions?

Answer 4

Qualitative research questions give shape and direction to research
* Define the purpose of the research
* Set boundaries to identify the gap in the literature
* Help us determine the appropriate methods
* Remind us what is the primary focus of the research (analytic +
dissemination)
* Determine if a study is approved, published or funded
* Poorly conceived qualitative research questions will likely create
problems

Question 5

How should qualitative research questions be conceptualized?

Answer 5

• Focus on a single phenomenon
• Precision gives boundaries (population + setting)
• Can be framed as question, aim, objective but not hypothesis
• Check whether they follow the FINER criteria:
  ➔ Feasible (answerable)
  ➔ Interesting (practical and broader interests)
  ➔ Novel (fill a gap in the literature)
  ➔ Ethical (a MUST in empirical research)
  ➔ Relevant (lead to real changes in society)

Question 6

Word choice: what

Answer 6

explore and understand the topic

Question 7

Word choice: how

Answer 7

underlying process

Question 8

What words should one avoid in writing qualitative research questions?

Answer 8

Why ➔ implies causation
Avoid using verbs associated with causal relationship
➔ determine, cause and impact

Question 9

What are good word choices in writing qualitative research questions?

Answer 9

Use verbs associated with an in-depth exploration of a topic
➔ discover, identify, explore, seek to understand and describe
Neutral and non-directional language
* Define the sample and setting (be precise)

Question 10

Identify the relevant word choices in the following qual. res. question:
What are the barriers that may hinder people in Guatimbol (small village in
Colombia) from seeking help from mental health services?

Answer 10

What - explore and understand
Barriers + seeking help from mental health services - research topic
People - sample
Guatimbol - setting

Goal: Identify the barriers that may hinder people in Guatimbol (small village in
Colombia) from seeking help from mental health services.

Question 11

What’s wrong with the following question?
What are the cultural, sociological, political and psychological factors
determining antisocial and violent behaviour in football fans?

Answer 11

–> Too ambious (focus on one factor only)
➔ Make the factor more specific (psychological = emotional)
➔ Avoid verbs suggesting causal relationships
➔ Better define participants
➔ Include information about setting

Question 12

What could be sub-questions to this research question?
➔ How are cancer treatment decisions made at the NCI (National Cancer Institute)
Designated Cancer Centers?

Answer 12

ex.
➔ What is the role of oncologists in decision-making?
➔ How are cancer treatment decisions influenced by integrated clinical
pathways?

Question 13

Where do qualitative research sub-questions go in the paper?

Answer 13

Qualitative research questions need to be stated early in the paper
* Readers need enough background to understand and contextualize
them
* Must be linked to the larger study
* Restate qualitative research questions in methods and concluding
sections

Question 14

How do you check for validity in qualitative studies?

Answer 14

• Qualitative researchers employ
  -member checking,
  -triangulation,
  -thick description,
  -peer reviews, and
• external audits

Question 15

What are validity strategies within the postpositvist/systematic paradigm?

Answer 15

• Triangulation (Provide corroborating evidence collected through
  multiple methods)
• Member checking (Taking data and interpretations back to the participants in the study)
• The audit trail (Turning to individuals external to the project who examine the narrative account and attest to its credibility)

Question 16

What is triangulation?

Answer 16

Here: validity strategy within the postpositivist/systematic paradigm.
by *Provide corroborating evidence collected through
multiple methods

Researchers search for convergence among multiple
and different sources of information to form themes or
categories in a study
- across data sources (i.e., participants),
- theories, methods (i.e., interview, observations,
documents)
- among different investigators

Provide corroborating evidence collected through
multiple methods
* Observations, interviews, and documents to locate major
and minor themes
* The narrative account (notes and memos) is valid
* Researchers go through this process and rely on
multiple forms of evidence rather than a single incident
or data point in the study

Question 17

What is member checking?

Answer 17

Here: validity strategy within the postpositivist/systematic paradigm.
by taking data and interpretations back to the participants
in the study

Taking data and interpretations back to the participants
in the study
* They can confirm the credibility of the information and
narrative account
* Researchers may have participants view the raw data and
comment on their accuracy
* Convene a focus group of participants to review the
findings

Question 18

What is the audit trail?

Answer 18

Here: validity strategy within the postpositivist/systematic paradigm.
by Turning to individuals external to the project who examine the narrative account and attest to its credibility

• Turning to individuals external to the project who examine the
  narrative account and attest to its credibility
• Established through journaling and memoing, research log of all activities, developing a data collection chronology, and
  recording data analysis procedures:
• Are the findings grounded in the data?
• Are inferences logical?
• Is the category structure appropriate?
• Can inquiry decisions and methodological shifts be justified?
• What is the degree of researcher bias?
• What strategies were used for increasing credibility?

Question 19

What are validity strategies within the constructivist paradigm?

Answer 19

• Disconfirming evidence (establish the preliminary themes or
  categories in a study and then search through the data
  for evidence that is consistent with or disconfirms
  these themes)
• Prolonged engamement in the field (The longer they stay in the field, the more the pluralistic perspectives will be heard from participants and the better the understanding of the context of participant views)
• Thick, rich description (Provide as much detail as possible)

Question 20

What is disconfirming evidence?

Answer 20

Here: validity strategy within the constructivist paradigm.

Investigators first establish the preliminary themes or
categories in a study and then search through the data
for evidence that is consistent with or disconfirms
these themes
* Less systematic than other procedures because
researchers have the proclivity to find confirming rather
than disconfirming evidence

Question 21

What is prolonged engagement in the field?

Answer 21

Here: validity strategy within the constructivist paradigm.

• Researchers build trust with participants, find gatekeepers
  to allow access to people and sites, establish rapport so that
  participants are comfortable disclosing information
• Researchers can check out the data and their hunches
  and compare interview data with observational data
• The longer they stay in the field, the more the pluralistic
  perspectives will be heard from participants and the better
  the understanding of the context of participant views

Question 22

What is thick description?

Answer 22

Here: validity strategy within the constructivist paradigm.

• Provide as much detail as possible creating verisimilitude
• Describing a small slice of interaction, experience, or
  action; locating individuals in specific situations; bringing a
  relationship or an interaction alive; or providing a detailed
  rendering of how people feel
• Rich description also enables readers to make decisions
  about the applicability of the findings to other settings or
  similar contexts

Question 23

What are validity strategies within the critical paradigm?

Answer 23

• Researcher reflexivity (Researchers report on personal beliefs, values, and biases that may shape their inquiry)
• Collaboration (Participants are involved in the study as co-researchers or in less formal arrangements)
• Peer debriefing (Peer debriefers can provide written feedback to
  researchers )

Question 24

What is researcher reflexivity?

Answer 24

Here: validity strategy within the critical paradigm.
“Acknowledging your part in the research”

• Researchers report on personal beliefs, values, and
  biases that may shape their inquiry
• Acknowledge and describe their beliefs and biases early
  in the research process
• Allow readers to understand their positions, and then
  to bracket or suspend those researcher biases as the
  study proceeds
• Clearly positioned within the critical paradigm where
  individuals reflect on the social, cultural, and historical
  forces that shape their interpretation

Question 25

What is collaboration?

Answer 25

Here: validity strategy within the critical paradigm.
“participants as co-researchers”

• Participants are involved in the study as co-researchers
  or in less formal arrangements
• Critical paradigm perspective because the intent of the
  process is to respect and support participants in a
  study
• Participants may help form the research questions,
  assist with data collection and analysis, and be
  involved in writing the narrative account
• Some qualitative researchers may share the profits, such
  as book royalties or co-authorship publication rights

Question 26

What is debriefing?

Answer 26

Here: validity strategy within the critical paradigm.
“peer debriefers give written feedback”

• Peer debriefers can provide written feedback to
  researchers
• Ask hard questions about methods and interpretations
• Peer debriefers add credibility to a study
• Provides support, challenges the researchers’
  assumptions

Question 27

What are the 2 stances that make up the Researcher epistemological and theoretical stance

Answer 27

Objective and reflexive

Stated clearly in the study

Objectivity: Establish distance from the
data through guarantors of objectivity

Reflexivity: Define the exact nature of
their proximity through relexivity

Question 28

What should one take into account when it comes to sampling in qualitative research?

Answer 28

• Ensure there is enough detail
  about sampling techniques
• Establishing the rationale and
  theory behind sampling is a key
  element of good qualitative research
• Sample representing the themes
  around an issue
• Sample representing a group
• How representative the sample is
  of that group should be included

Question 29

What should one take into account when it comes to data collection in qualitative research?

Answer 29

• Include sufficient detail about how
  the data were collected and
  description of the context
• How and why there were changes in
  techniques or focus
• Establish a transparent process
• Allow the reader to judge if the
  methods used and decisions made
  during data collection were reasonable

Question 30

What should one take into account when it comes to analysis in qualitative research?

Answer 30

• Provide sufficient information about the
  journey from data to conclusions
• Ensure that all cases are included and
  reported
• Counter the criticism that qualitative
  research relies only on cases that
  support conclusions
• Examining why some cases contradict
  an emerging pattern can strengthen
  theory building
• Objectivity through using multiple and
  independent coding to confirm analysis
  of interviews

Question 31

What should one take into account when it comes to results and concluson in qualitative research?

Answer 31

Cross-reference between
conclusions and data
* Details about the group studied and
the context allows to make
judgements about how far to
extrapolate findings to other groups
* Grounds for demonstrating that
results can be representative